


that shine in your eyes

by kittymills



Series: Sheith Snippets [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Light Angst, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Past Shadam - Freeform, Post Season 7, Prompt Fill, SHEITH - Freeform, Shiro POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 16:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15912411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittymills/pseuds/kittymills
Summary: Prompt Fill on tumblr for past shadam & present sheith with the line "You've never had that shine in your eyes when you were with me"





	that shine in your eyes

The dreams always come to him the same way, a scatter of stars and the absence of a sun, a purple haze across the heavens and black oil under his feet and when he wakes, it clings to him like a second skin, never quite dissipating until he learns to live with the way it sinks into his bones.

Maybe it’s not his dreams. Maybe it’s the other version of him.

He doesn’t let himself dwell.

He pulls himself up and walks through the muted halls of the garrison. It’s the middle of the night now and the hallways are empty. He relishes the peace. No one to stop him to ask him a hundred questions he’s not sure he has the answer to, no one to stare at the eerie blue glow of his shoulder, no one to grab his hand and shake it while sobbing tears of thanks.

The halls lead him outside, into the dark under the velvet blanket of sky. It’s almost strange to see the constellations so familiar overhead after so long in space where he didn’t recognize any at all. He walks further out, away from the lights of the garrison grounds until he hears a whisper in the dark and a cool brush of wind skims over his cheek.

He’s used this now. It had taken a while, some long sleepless nights and a panicked visit to Allura’s quarters before he finally understood what was happening. Some times the whispers were so loud he couldn’t hear himself think, and after the Galra’s occupation of earth, there were a lot of whispers.

It made sense that when he returned from the astral realm, he didn’t quite return alone.

One whisper stands out among the rest, the one he gives permission to crowd closer. Another brush against his cheek then a ruffle of his hair. It makes him smile.

“Adam.”

There’s a shift in the darkness then as the shadows before him start to curl together and form into a once familiar shape. He looks the same as he did that day in the instructor’s lounge, garrison greys and his hair tousled.  It must be something he’s conjured from his memory, he thinks. Adam wasn’t wearing his dress uniform when he died.

Adam seems to fade in and out before him. He might be smiling, but it’s hard to tell.

The sight of his smile makes Shiro pensive.

“Did you feel it? When it happened?” he asks the shimmer in front of him. He thinks about it a lot; Adam’s final moments, the terror he must have felt when the galra fired on him, the fighter disintegrating around him in a fireball.  What did he think about in that split second before death? Did Shiro cross his mind?

“No.” Adam tilts his head. “Did you?”

Shiro remembers the battle with Zarkon, the purple hues washing over him in the cockpit of the Black lion. The way his paladin armour felt like it was choking him, burning him, the sparks that slithered over his skin and the agony.

“No,” he whispers, more out of habit than deceit. He never liked showing Adam his discomfort.

Adam flickers then he expression on his face changes. He looks… amused.  “You were always a terrible liar, Takashi.”

Something about the dry way he says it makes the breath catch in Shiro’s throat. It makes him want to laugh and sob at the same time because it’s so Adam and an echo of a hundred moments from a lifetime ago. Instead, he fights the urge to reach for him, knowing he’ll feel nothing but cool desert air if he does.

And just like every time he sees him, he whispers hoarsely, “Adam, I’m sorry.”

Sorry for leaving, sorry for dying, sorry for being too late to stop Admiral Sanda from sending Adam to his death.

“Don’t be. It worked out in the end.”

“How can you say that, Adam?” Shiro says harshly, shocked. Adam could be brutal with his words sometimes and Shiro wants to recoil, but from what? Was there anything really there? “We both _died.”_

Adam looks at him sorrowfully, his shimmer growing solid for just a moment before fading and flickering again. The look in his eyes is the same one Shiro has seen a thousand times before.

 _Jesus._ Even in death, they’re still fighting.

A shift comes over Adam’s face, as though he’s caught Shiro’s silent thoughts. His lip twists, the same twist he wore when he walked away, when they had finally laid what was left of their love to rest.

“But you came back. You have a second chance, Takashi.”

For a heartbeat, Shiro thinks he means life but then Adam looks away. “You've never had that shine in your eyes when you were with me.”

The ache that wraps its hand around Shiro’s throat is painful. So is the sorrow that mingles with it. And the guilt.

“Adam-“

“You love him so much and he’s always loved you. Don’t turn your back on it.”

“The war-“

“All this time, and you still haven’t learned, have you? What are you even fighting for, Takashi?”

 

* * *

 

Keith’s door is rimmed in gold and the light leaking out tells Shiro he’s awake despite it being the early hours of the morning. He wants to push the door open and tell Keith to get some sleep, that all the reports and requests and weight of helping to rebuild what was left of Earth would still be there in the morning, until he realises how hypocritical it would be coming from him at this moment.

He raises his hand to rap gently against the smooth surface and there’s the sound of a small shuffle inside and a few beats pass before the door slides open and Keith stands there with a look of surprise on his face.

The surprise quickly shifts to confusion. “Shiro? What’s going on? Is everything alright? Are we being attac-“

“Everything’s fine,” Shiro throws up his hands placatingly. “I just… I wanted to talk to you.”

Keith studies him for a moment longer than necessary and Shiro wonders what he sees there. Keith always had that slightly intense way he studied him, like he was trying to see through his words to the intentions underneath. When they’d first met, it had been disconcerting but now it was comforting to know there was someone in the universe who understood him so well.

Keith steps aside and beckons him in. The door closes with a soft snick behind them.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Shiro lets out a short bark of laughter but it sounds painful even to his own ears.

“Care to share the joke?” Keith eyes him warily. “Must be good if you came all this way in the middle of the night to find me.”

“No joke, Keith.”

“Then what is it?” Keith frowns. “What’s wrong?”

God, he’s beautiful, Shiro thinks. He’s always been beautiful but now with the extra years from the quantum abyss and the time with his mom, he was breathtaking. Even the scar on his cheek can’t deter from sublime planes of his jaw.  A scar _he_ put there, a cruel thought murmurs but Shiro ruthlessly shoves it away.

Not him.

But the damage is done and for the briefest moment he hesitates. He questions if he really deserves this.  After all that’s happened, does he deserve this second chance?

There’s a faint whisper in the corners of his mind, gently chiding. Shiro draws in a breath. He won’t make the same mistake again.

“Keith, there’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve held in for far too long and I hope… I hope you’ll be willing to listen to what I have to say.”

“Of course,” Keith answers. “You know I will always be here for you.”

Shiro smiles at that and the softness in Keith’s eyes makes his heart flutter against his ribs.  They have a chance to breathe now. They have a chance to give life to the spark that glows between them.

“I love you,” Shiro says simply.

There’s a shimmer of emotion that flickers over Keith’s face, too fast for him to school away. There’s hope, joy and a touch of wariness too.

“I love you too,” he answers, but it’s hesitant.

Shiro takes a step closer. Keith’s eyes go wide and his nostrils flare. He’s so still, poised in the moment like a deer in the headlights. Shiro can see the war going on behind his eyes.

“Not like a brother,” he says quietly. The breath feels tight in his lungs and when he raises his human hand, it trembles until it lands softly against Keith’s jaw.  Keith breathes harder, a rough hitch that turns into a soft gasp. His eyes close on a slow blink.

“Shiro,” he shudders and then he’s falling into Shiro’s chest, lithe arms curling around him and holding him tightly. And god, he’s a perfect fit, this beautiful fierce warrior Shiro claims as his own.

_Thank you, Adam._

There’s an echo of a whisper and cool skim of air that makes his hair flutter despite no windows in the room. He holds Keith in his arms and smiles. A blessing. 

He never hears whispers again.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] that shine in your eyes by kittymills](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19338340) by [taikodragon (hana_ginkawa)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hana_ginkawa/pseuds/taikodragon)




End file.
